Well I said I wouldn't be able to get Episode 4 up in time for this week, however I'm thinking of retracting that statement as I type this. For this week I have just completed Skyward Sword and I hope to try and give my views on it in as much detail as my short attention span can manage. Also included this week is Sherlock Holmes: A game of shadows, and Super Mario Land. Before that though I'd like to say that I'm having a rough week, dealing with the disappointments of everyday life, and this may effect my writing in some way, if it's a negative effect I apologise in advance.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword:

This is perhaps the most intimidating thing I’ve ever had to write. Skyward Sword is such a huge game that has lots of divided opinions plus I also have to be conscious about Spoilers, I mean I’ll do bold warnings saying spoilers so I hope you can avoid them. SS is not my favourite Zelda game, let’s be clear about that from the start. I still find that Wind Waker and Majora’s Mask are my favourite games in the series, in terms of my ranking it sits in a three way tie with OOT and ALTTP, if you read my blogs last year I’m sure you would understand that I love those games so perhaps that might give you a good picture of how I feel about this one. First and foremost is the story, I mean this is an awesome origin story and quite often origin stories are very powerful. SPOILERS Demise actually explains all the villains in the franchise very well, including Spirit Tracks. Also connections to most games seem to be here, the pirates in Wind Waker, the Happy Mask salesman, Chancellor Cole and while not explicit with enough thought various connections can be made. The Zelda 1 references in the dialogue. A surprising connection with Zelda II in the whole Zelda goes to sleep thing. The twist of Ghiraham being a demonic version of Fi. SPOILERS END HERE In short it’s just such a lot of depth in terms of story, and characters. Fi reminds me of C3PO, and Groose adds nice touches of comedic relief. The downside though is that the character side quests are too simple, and while they try to emulate Majora’s Mask I felt little satisfaction from helping them. “Vegeta what does the scouter say about his Rupee level?” “It’s OVER 9000” sorry I had to go there. Yes in this game Rupee’s come pouring out of your ears and Buying out Beedle becomes way too easy. In fact due to the medals I ended up oversupplied with treasure, bugs and rupees towards the end of the game, in fact I wish they were useful for something at that point. MORE SPOILERS Demise only took two attempts for me to defeat and I didn’t even use the Skyward Strike, in fact the first dungeon gave me more frustration as I learned the controls. END SPOILERS most boss battles were somewhat fun and the emphasis on combat was enjoyable for the most part. However the remote is only 85% accurate so there were times when it faltered in particular during mini-games. While on the topic of mini-games they’re hit and miss, with Sky Diving a hit and Pumpkin shooting a miss (surprisingly). The game looks great, it sounds great, however I can’t quite put my finger on it but there’s something missing in the soundtrack that doesn’t make it stand out. I found the controls to be fun, and for the most part the game-play was great if not for a few complaints. I mean I really didn’t feel the game compel my OCD nature sure I collected everything but previous entries made this feel like much more of an accomplishment. Perhaps the game could have used fire arrows or Ice arrows something optional that felt more important than a small bomb bag you can buy yourself anyway. Adding elements of Monster Hunter and Metroid is an interesting touch and improves the game in some ways but not in others. Also the Sky sort of feels like Pilotwings Resort + Super Mario Galaxy + touches of Wind Waker which isn’t a bad thing but it loses appeal once you’ve seen it all halfway through the game. Despite these faults I enjoyed the game, and I am even compelled to play through Hero mode sometime in the future. If you have any questions feel free to ask me, I mean it’d be impossible to list every thought I have about this game in this blog.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows:

I enjoyed the original Sherlock Holmes quite a lot as it made Victorian London incredibly Bad Ass without removing all of its class. It was full of Mystery and Action, plus great acting on Robert Downing Jr.’s part. This sequel removes the mystery aspect and makes this a Battle of the minds, it’s still a detective story just don’t expect any seemingly supernatural things. I thought the camera work, was good, the action was great, and the soundtrack excellent. However I felt at one point that the film was becoming a generic action film. However I personally believe that the ending scenes saved this movie, and in doing so made this much more enjoyable than first film. However go and see for yourself and form your own opinions.

Super Mario Land:

Super Mario Land is a strange game I mean, exploding Koopas, monsters disguised as princesses (Daisy), Evil Easter Island Heads and evil Sphinxes, Submarine and aeroplane battles. It’s still a lot of fun however and I got used to it. The Rubber Ball Flower is a crazy idea that works and the bonus game ensures you have plenty of extra lives on hand. I also like Mario’s 8-bit look here and how there is a decent variety in terms of stage design considering that this is very early Game Boy material. However I take issue to some moments where you don’t touch an enemy yet you still get hit, these moments don’t ruin the game though. Also it’s incredibly short which means it’s a game for speed runs and easy replay ability. Sure more levels would be nice, but it didn’t destroy the experience. Good gameplay, great/weird level and character design, and one of the best soundtracks I’ve heard. The tunes are instantly catchy and I would love to hear them remixed in future Mario games.

That’s all for now, feel free to ask me any questions and I hope I haven’t given you any spoilers. Stay tuned for Episode 5.

Well today begins a Heat Wave in my part of the world, also it's Australia day. So in act of celebration and perhaps consolation for the fact the Chaos Blogg will be taking a break this week, I thought I'd provide you with some Heat related tunes.

I hope you enjoyed this blog, feel free to contribute to the heat wave.

Good afternoon/morning/evening/night MyIGN users, this week has been full of new things, well new for me anyway. Firstly I now have a decent internet connection and can access the e-shop and the like. However this connection isn't supported by my DS so I won't be downloading the weekly puzzle in professor Layton. Also not supported to my Frustration is my new PSP. Why would I buy a PSP? Because I could, it was new (not pre-owned), it was at a good price and I always wanted one. I think it's to with my security settings, something I hope can be sorted out. If anyone has any tips that'd be cool. Anyway as for the PSP my first purchases were Secret Agent Clank and Crush, I hope to tell you my impressions soon, I've only just begun Clank and so far it's been much more fun than it's review score suggested it would be. Anyway let's get on with the show.

Nintendo Letterbox:

I'm not sure what it's called in your area but over here the 3DS chat feature is called Nintendo Letter box and it's an interesting feature. However to access it you must stop whatever you are doing which is often quite intrusive. Anyway think of a Pictochat that's online, uses photos, themes and if you walk enough even audio clips. Also think of it in 3D with some text popping out in front of the rest, it's a neat feature and gives you more room for writing. The music in this letterbox is calm and relaxed but not really noteworthy. However this feature is keeping me in touch with several fellow MyIGNer's on days when I can't be bother using my computer. I just wish I could pause my games to check it out instead of exiting them.

Electroplankton Luminarrow:

The Electroplankton stage in Brawl was perhaps the weirdest thing I'd ever seen, I mean a flat 2D stage with no real music, it's a nightmare for someone like myself however it's mere presence is enough to spark my curiosity. What is an Electroplankton? I asked myself and soon I discovered that was musical experiment for the DS. After I found this out I never really thought about it until this week when I saw Luminarrow getting decent ratings in the e-shop. Interesting I thought, I had some cash leftover that wasn't enough buy anything else, so I bought Luminarrow. It's better than the Brawl stage, it has two modes one where you have full control and one where you have partial control. You end up with some very beautiful sounds from this and I found it had a really calming effect that induced a strong desire to close my eyes. And I don't mean in a bad way. I go back to it every now and then, whether I will continue to do so remains to be seen.

Kirby's Dreamland:

Puyo! ahem... sorry. Ever since I played Kirby Super Star Ultra on DS I've had a growing interest in the series. Kirby's Adventure and Kirby Mass Attack followed, and now I've gone back to the beginning of the marshmallows adventures (I know he's not a marshmallow). This game feels like a shorter version of Adventure, but without the copy ability which means there's a focus on platforming rather than just trying to upgrade powers. It's simple fun and while short the second play through makes you earn your victory . The bosses are much more faster and more brutal in this second run but memories their patterns and it becomes simple enough. I was surprised how much I enjoyed the second play through, that doesn't happen often enough. Also the music in this game is Awesome. Enjoy.

Metroid II: The return of Samus:

That's right I saved the best for last. Metroid II is often called the Black Sheep of the Metroid series, however I will say here and now that this is better than the NES Metroid, Other M, Metroid Prime Hunters, and perhaps even Fusion. I'm sorry that's not to say I don't love those games it's just I'm loving this one much more. But why is that? Is it the great game play, the way it controls. It's classic Metroid just slightly more linear and yet despite linearity it doesn't feel like I'm not allowed to explore or even backtrack, in fact exploration was key. Also the story is actually pretty good without actually telling you anything. I mean sure this could never beat the Primes, or Super Metroid or Zero Mission. But it's still awesome. Great Game Boy Graphics, and some awesome sounds. Although there is one track that will haunt my nightmares and is perhaps the worst piece of music in any Metroid game period. Also I really enjoyed seeing the origin of the Plasma Beam, the Space Jump, the Jump Ball, and the Spider Ball. I can't quite do it justice with my words. Also the final Boss Battle is fun. I would love to see a remake of this game

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Ahem, anyway I hope you enjoyed this blog. As a special treat I give you some Metroid remixes please enjoy.